Notes / Commercial Description:
The dark caramel, large dense headed brew, with its 8.8% alcoholic content, is unique due to its sweet notes of chocolate and coffee interspersed into a foundation of dark roasted barley. Symbolic black to denote leadership, power, focus and strength, is dominant in the labeling as the lion journeys in the twilight unafraid, unbowed and unchallenged.

Poured a dark chocolate color with a khaki foam that fell to a trace around the rim of the glass.
Smells of roasted malt, figs, and dates. It kind of reminds me of a camp fire.
Tastes of smoky dark chocolate and tamarind juice.
Mouth feel is heavy and smooth with a lingering coat of film in the back of my throat.
This is a great stout has a lot of body it, great for dessert.

This beer poured a dark black with a billowing tan and copper head that fell to a small creamy head that left behind a some nice, thin lace.

Smells of dry, roasted barley, a touch of coffee, popcorn and a slight medicinal cherry. Theres also a slight woody, oaky essence that ties the smells together with a very organic feel.

Starts very smooth with a delicately roasted, smoky barley and with a light, sour, tingly sensation around the edges of my tongue but then picks up a blueberry and cherry sweetness. The sweetness then collapses back into the smoke to pick up a toasted coffee in the finish with just a touch of oaky sourness and a dry honey flavor. The dynamics here are really something!

The mouth feel is medium bodied with a very thin carbonation that adds a tingly element to the dryer flavors. This felt a little heavy to me.

The beer was purchased at Piazza Decepoli for $3.99 for a 625ml bottle. The beer was served in a wide mouthed wine goblet.

Appearance: The beer pours a straight black coloration. The head is very thick with a creamed coffee colored head. The beer has nice head retention and leaves rings of lace on the glass.

Smell: The beer has a coffee and subdued chocolate malty smell. The beer also has a very present and inoffensive alcohol smell.

Taste: The beer has a ok medium roasted coffee taste. There is a bit of chocolate to the taste. The beer has some spicy anise notes. There is a bit of a metallic twang to the aftertaste that detracts from a otherwise good beer.

Mouthfeel/ Drinkability: The beer is very creamy and very smooth. The beer is full bodied. The beer hides its alcohol well in the taste. If it wasnt for the metallic aftertaste I would rate this beer much higher. This is a pretty good beer inspite of the metallic aftertaste. I will definately purchase this beer again. If I have future bottles of this without the metallic aftertaste I will re-review this beer.

Inky black with cordovan highlights. Thick layered head of burnished khaki bubbles of varied size. Slow to settle, leaving some light lacing. Rich coffee dominates the smell along with some sweet notes as well, perhaps a touch of molasses. Sweet white sugar up front with a solid roasty middle that provides a firm backbone. This finishes sweet, in a 'would you like some coffee with your sugar' way with only a hint of roasted bitterness at the last moment. There is also a slightly overt alcohol note as well. Medium body with a soft cushy mouthfeel that contains almost no carbonation, smooth. This was enjoyable, but may have been better showcased with some spicy food rather than on its own.

A six pack was part of my birthday present from my wife, who doesnt know much about beer. She picked it out on her own a great present! 12 oz bottle marked 595 17:18, with a photo and quote of Michael Jackson on the back, poured into a nonic pint glass

Apours solid black with a 1 ½ inch mocha colored head that collapses down nicely into a foamy blob, spotty lacing is produced as I drink

Sfruit and coffee are blended well, alcohol comes out, too, sweet chocolate is also very mild

A: pours a very dark brown, almost ebony hue, some ruby hints are seen against light; the tan head comes effervescent and foamy, gradually settling to a thin carpet and leaving tight lacing.
S: lovely and intense aroma of roast nuts and roasted barleys upfront, on top of more settled sticky toffee, coffee-flavoured milk, and burned sugary coating as on cream-brulee~~ True to the style, the aroma is dense but still manageable, albeit a touch too sweet for me and slightly short of complexity.
T: an effervescent-textured maltiness flows onto the palate, introducing peanut-flavoured toffee, crushed roast almond, lightly bitter-sweet root-spice (licorice), burned sugar, and roasted barleys; the nutty edge speaks out loud, providing a different kind of bitter-sweetness from other burned-malt-dominated Foreign Stouts I've had. Only in the end does a tinge of restrained sourness emerge, complementing the bitter-sweet flavour just well.
M&D: although the texture falls a bit thin, the very light body sits in contrast to a semi-strong flavour, and the high alc. content doesn't leave a wee bit trace throughout the drink, making this a very approachable stout. Somehow my impression of this beer is compromised by (unintentional) comparison with stronger and fuller Imperial Russian Stouts, and robust, less sweet and dryer English Stouts. In a sense, interestingly, its texture and flavour remind me more of Sweet/Milk Stouts instead--I mustn't be the only one to speculate that, surely? A nice, but not great, foreign stout worth trying once in a life time.

Every ounce of my body screamed "NO!!!" when I pulled this from the fridge.... Drinking a stout cold just felt like a crime, but I told myself that the ad for Lion Stout says to drink it cold...

Pours pitch black with a thick off-white head, that last quite a while.

Smells of coffee, roasted malts, and brown sugar.

Flavor is quite nice, coffee, mocha, caramel, brownsugar, raisins, and a hint of hops at the end. This beer gets a bit sweeter as it warms, as opposed to being somewhat dry when cold. Mouthfeel is silky smooth, and drinkability is good, considering the 8% abv.

I was quite impressed to find a stout that is good cold. I was so afraid that it would kill all the flavor, but it's actually quite enjooyable. Now if I have a craving for a stout in the summer, I know exactly where to reach.

Near black in colour with slightly higher than average carbonation. Aromatic profile begins with a somewhat pilsner-like sulfur hit before evolving picking up notes of licorice, mild coffee and plum. Its fairly light in the mouth, and has some intriguing yet light flavors of espresso, chocolate, and a bit of caramel. Overall, this is fairly restrained as far as stouts go, but I could see this one being quite nice in the hot weather.

Dry taste with a finish that leaves the palette wet. Bitter bite. Mocha/coffee taste definitely resurfaces itself on the tongue, powdery feel. Bittersweet chocolate was also strong in the taste, with a sweet accent of fruits and caramel. Mouthfeel was not as creamy as I would've hoped, body was overall light and a bit watery.

8% ABV isn't all that noticeable and this is definitely a very drinkable stout. Still, it's not all quite there. Pitted against the Ji-Biru stout from Baird, I'd say this one comes out on top by a slight edge because it's a bit more complex and has a more interesting taste. Enjoy!

Smell is chocolate; coffee and figs with some cake like malt aromas. Slight acid edge to this mixes with the fruitiness to give it the smell of sour plums.

Taste is on the sweet side with a big chocolate flavor. There is a little blistered coffee bean flavor to this that gives a mocha flavor but it is really chocolate more than anything else is. Fruity flavors are in this too figs, and cherry. Quite tasty but this is my first beer of this style.

Mouthfeel is good and thick.

Extremely pleasant to drink. Tasty and a more complex than your average stout there are only few Stouts that are better than this one. Highly recommended.

Checked the other reviews, mine might seem a bit high but I stand by it, this is a damn tasty beer.

This brew was a pleasant surprise! I picked up a single bottle at New World Beverage in Manhattan for $1.00 out of the cooler. Guess it was not a big seller. It is antstanding export stout. It was not exceptionally dry nor cloying in itssweetness. no hint of alcohol. It has a very molasses like character to quote the missus and enough depth and complexity (coffee and chicory, some dried fruit) to make it exceptionally drinkable. I can't wait to grab some more and study it further. If I can get it at a buck a bottle - woo hoo -so much the better.

Ya know, if someone would have TOLD me a beer from Sri Lanka would be this amazing, I would have thought there were insane. This is unbelievable! It poured nearly totally black like dirty motor oil with a light brown head. Head was fluffy and pitted for about 45 seconds, but subsided to haze. Nice lace. The smell is very chocolatey. Lots of coffee and lots of roasted malt. Smells like it should be a cake or some sort of chocolate dessert. The taste, too, has an enormous likeness of coffee with plenty of toasted malt. This is simply delicious!! The mouthfeel is very smooth. I feel like I could probably drink three of these in a sitting, but certainly no more than that. If I were to have to guess the abv by simply taste alone with out seeing the bottle, I would probably say 6 and change or so. I'd never guess this was an 8%'er. This is an inconceivably good beer from a third world country like Sri Lanka. I'm truly impressed.

330 ml bottle. Lion Stout pours out almost black with a huge, dense, rocky head. The aroma is cocoa, molasses, and grain. The flavor is very chocolatey. Sweet, but not overly sweet. A bit of fruitiness in the middle along with roasted grain. The finish is all chocolate. The mouthfeel is full. Carbonation is too low. This beer could definitely use some more bubbles. Decent drinkability. Despite the flatness, this is a pretty good stout.

The bottle said Sinha stout, but I am sure this is the same thing as well. Pours extremely dark with a large amount of brown foam that quickly disipates to a thin film. Very little lace left on the glass. Smells ripe with dark cherries, plums, chocolate, rum, mollases, and roasted malts. Flavour is quite balanced. Starts out slightly sweet, with an aftertaste of bitter coffee and roasted malts. Mouthfeel is a bit watery, though. As if someone took a good stout and added a litre of water. Still, an overall decent beer. Not sure if it's a dry or sweet stout. Perhaps a hybrid.

Wow, it's nice to be back to beer after such a long illness. Pours out to a dark black as night color with a nice big head of tan foam. Very dense. Uniform lace around the interior of the glass. Aromas of roasted malt, cocoa, burning wood and pumpernickel bread. Taste was very quaffable; flavors of roasted malt, dark chocolate, even some sweet milky qualities were present. Mouthfeel was good; could've been a touch thicker and heartier, but I can't complain. Good Drinkability. A definite revisit will be inline soon. Recommended.

I bought a case of this at The Beer Mart in Reading, PA. I drank it in a goblet.

Pours an almost opaque black with only dark garnet color showing through around the edges. A very nice dark tan head of tight foam forms on top, falls to a coating, and leaves very good lacing on the glass.

Aroma is chocolate, coffee, black licorice, and somewhat fruity, with notes of burnt cherries or raisins. Spicy hops are also present. There IS a smell here, lingering, that is metallic or chalky, that is not pleasant. The smell of black licorice becomes stronger as it warms.

Flavor is strong roasted barley, masked fairly well by a decent amount of sugar. Coffee and chocolate flavors are right there in your face, but not really overdone. This IS a strongly flavored Export stout, however. Hop bitterness is fairly high, but pretty well balanced. Alcohol fairly well hidden. Aftertaste is burnt sugar and sweet.

Mouthfeel is full bodied, with a medium level of carbonation. The finish definitely dries out toward the end.

I would drink this again. There's something about the smell I don't care for, but the taste and kick are good.

A - 330 ml bottle labeled "Sinha Stout". My understanding is that it's just the name they use for it around here. Pours a dark, almost opaque brown with a huge head. Drops to a permanent thincover and lacing on the sides of the glass.

S - Roasty,and some yeast. Smells good, but unremarkable for a stout.

T - Slight roasted tartness. No noticeable hops. Just a thick, roasted malt. Oh there's some hops I think. Got it at the very back end of the finish. Quite a sweet beer. (not sugary sweet, but you know... sweet :P)